Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Shisler.
Hi Mike, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Mike Shisler, and I’m the artist behind Drawn There. I create ink and watercolor artwork inspired by travel, architecture, landscapes, and the places people feel connected to.
My background is in architecture, which has definitely shaped the way I see and draw the world. I’ve always been interested in buildings, streets, towns, and the way places are put together. But my work is also heavily influenced by years of travel, bikepacking, vanlife, and painting on location. I’ve made artwork from all 50 states and continue to build a growing catalog of places that includes national parks, small towns, beaches, cities, landmarks, campuses, roadside views, and everyday scenes that might be easy to overlook.
Drawn There started as a way to document the places I was experiencing in real life. I was not just making art from reference photos in a studio. I was sketching from campsites, sidewalks, trailheads, beaches, coffee shops, and the back of a van. That approach became a big part of the identity of the work. I want the drawings to feel personal, observed, and connected to the actual experience of being somewhere.
Today, Drawn There offers art prints, digital files, custom commissions, books, and location-based artwork for people who want to remember a place that matters to them. Sometimes that place is a national park or a favorite travel destination. Other times it is a college campus, a hometown street, a wedding location, a family cabin, a beach, a restaurant, or a building with personal history. I think that is one of the things that makes this work meaningful. The artwork is not only about the image itself. It is about the memory attached to the place.
A lot of my customers find my work because they are looking for a specific location. They want something more personal than a generic poster or mass-produced souvenir. I try to make artwork that feels handmade, approachable, and rooted in direct experience. My style combines architectural linework with loose watercolor, so there is structure and accuracy, but also a sense of movement and atmosphere.
What sets Drawn There apart is the scale and authenticity of the archive. I’ve spent years building this body of work through real travel and real observation. The name Drawn There is very literal. The work comes from being there, paying attention, and translating that experience into a small piece of art someone can live with.
I’m most proud that the business has grown from something very personal into something that connects with other people’s memories. I love when someone finds a print of a place that means something to them and tells me why. It might remind them of where they grew up, a trip they took, a place they lived, or someone they love. Those moments make the work feel bigger than just my own travel story.
At its core, Drawn There is about place, memory, and attention. It is about slowing down long enough to notice where you are, and then creating something that helps keep that place with you.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There are daily struggles in any creative endeavor. But one of the more tangible struggles happened making a painting while bikepacking through Alaska.
On paper, it sounds like an ideal creative adventure. You are surrounded by mountains, rivers, glaciers, long summer light, and some of the most dramatic landscapes in the country. But the reality of trying to make artwork in that environment was much harder than the romantic version of the story.
I was traveling by bike through a very remote place, carrying my camping gear, food, art supplies, and everything I needed to get through each day. There were long stretches of isolation where I was very aware of how far I was from help. I was also constantly thinking about wildlife, especially the possibility of grizzly bears. Even when nothing happened, the awareness was always there. You are camping, eating, sleeping, and sketching in a landscape where you are not at the top of the food chain.
The mosquitoes were another kind of challenge. They were relentless. There were times when stopping to sketch meant instantly being swarmed. It is hard to settle into a peaceful creative mindset when you are trying to paint with one hand and swat mosquitoes with the other. Even simple things like eating, setting up camp, or getting water could become frustrating.
That trip taught me a lot about resilience because I still wanted to make the work. I had gone there not just to pass through Alaska, but to really observe it and document it. Some days that meant accepting that the drawing would be imperfect, or that I would only get a small window of time before the bugs, weather, fatigue, or nerves got the best of me. Other days it meant pushing myself to stop and sketch even when it would have been easier to just keep riding.
I think that experience shaped the way I understand my work. Drawn There is not just about making polished images of beautiful places. It is about the effort of being present in those places. Sometimes that means sitting comfortably at a café with a sketchbook. Other times it means being exhausted on the side of a road in Alaska, surrounded by mosquitoes, listening for movement in the brush, and still trying to pay attention to the landscape in front of me.
The resilience was not about pretending it was easy. It was about continuing to show up for the work in a place that demanded a lot from me physically and mentally. Looking back, that is part of what makes the Alaska pieces meaningful. They carry the memory of the landscape, but also the experience of earning the view, sitting with the discomfort, and making the artwork anyway.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m an artist, illustrator, and founder of Drawn There, an art business built around documenting real places through ink and watercolor. My work is rooted in travel, architecture, biking, and plein air sketching. I specialize in creating location-based artwork that captures the feeling of a place, not just what it looks like.
Drawn There began as a way to merge several parts of my life. I studied architecture, spent years traveling and living out of a van, rode my bike across the country multiple times, and made artwork along the way. Instead of creating from a studio, I built a practice around going to the actual places that inspire me, sitting down with my sketchbook, and drawing from life.
I’m probably best known for my travel and architectural illustrations, especially pieces connected to national parks, cities, roadside landmarks, coastal towns, and places people have personal memories tied to. A lot of my customers find my work because it reminds them of a trip, a hometown, a favorite trail, or a place that shaped them.
What I’m most proud of is that I’ve built Drawn There around real experience. I’ve made art while bikepacking through remote parts of Alaska, dealing with mosquitoes, isolation, weather, and the constant awareness that I was in grizzly country. I’ve painted from sidewalks, campsites, beaches, mountain towns, and national parks. That lived experience gives the work a sense of honesty that I think people connect with.
What sets me apart is that the artwork is not just about the final image. It’s about the story behind it. I’m interested in the connection between place, memory, movement, and creativity. My goal is to keep growing Drawn There into something larger through collaborations, licensing, commissions, and projects that help people see familiar places in a more personal and meaningful way.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I’d love readers to know that Drawn There is still growing, and I’m always interested in new ways to collaborate.
A lot of my work starts with a real place: a city, a building, a trail, a hotel, a restaurant, a national park, a neighborhood, or a place that holds personal meaning for someone. I love working with people and businesses who want artwork that feels specific to their story, not generic. That could be a custom commission, a collection of location-based prints, artwork for a hospitality space, a licensing project, or a collaboration with a brand, city, or organization.
I’m especially interested in projects that connect art, travel, architecture, and sense of place. My background in architecture helps me see buildings and environments in a very particular way, while my years of travel and bikepacking have shaped the way I experience and document places firsthand.
Drawn There started as a personal art project, but I see it becoming something much larger: a studio built around meaningful places, real experiences, and artwork that helps people feel connected to where they’ve been, where they live, or where they dream of going.
People can find my work at DrawnThere.com or on Instagram at @drawnthere.
Pricing:
- Custom Paintings from $100 – $1500
- Prints from $15 – $100
Contact Info:
- Website: https://drawnthere.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/drawn.there
